The Best Clubs In Baseball's Golden Era!
The Playoffs
Time for the playoffs where the top 16 clubs will battle for the bragging rights to be the best club in Baseball's golden era. One note here I did not choose four clubs from each division I went off script and followed the power rankings for the seeding. I also narrowed the field to include the top 10 MLB clubs and the top 6 negro clubs.
Click on the team logo for more details on the club, or on the player pics for game box scores.
Round One The Top Sixteen Clubs
The seeding order for the first round:
#1 '44 St. Louis Cardinals
#2 '24 Kansas City Monarchs
#3 '19 Cincinnati Reds
#4 '29 Philadelphia Athletics
#5 '27 New York Yankees
#6 '17 Chicago White Sox
#7 '49 Boston Red Sox
#8 '42 Brooklyn Dodgers
#9 '42 St. Louis Cardinals
#10 '32 New York Yankees
#11 '20 American Giants
#12 '35 Chicago Cubs
#13 '28 St. Louis Stars
#14 '38 Homestead Grays
#15 '46 Newark Eagles
#16 '35 Pittsburgh Crawfords
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1927 Yankees Sweep The 1935 Cubs!
The Bronx bombers made quick work of the Cubs pitching staff, Ruth connected on four homers while batting .308 and collecting 8 RBI in the series. Lou Gehrig led the club in hitting at .583, Bob Meusel was next at .500.
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1944 Cardinals Defeat 1935 Crawfords In Five!
Stan Musial led the Cards batting .368 while Mort Cooper collected two wins on the hill. Sam Bankhead, Josh Gibson and "Cool Papa" Bell led the Crawfords batting .375, .368 and .364 respectively.
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1942 Cardinals Finish Off The 1942 Dodgers In Six!
The Cards sent 8 men to the plate in the bottom half of the 8th inning of game six and scored 4 runs to take the contest 4-3. Jimmy Brown singled in Mort Cooper for the game and series win! Stan Musial led this version of the Cardinals batting .440.
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1929 Athletics Outlast The 1928 St. Louis Stars!
In the same day the '29 Athletics finished off the '28 Stars. Lefty Grove won his second contest of the series while four batters hit over .400. They were led by Al Simmons at .423. The Stars put up a good fight led by "Cool Papa" Bell's team leading 8 RBI, Willie Wells had 7 and Henry Williams 6. There were 8 homers hit in game one, four by each club.
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1920 American Giants Talk Of Chicago!
The first 7 game series to end was the in Chicago when the '20 Chicago American Giants defeated the '17 White Sox in a cross town, cross league rival. Dave Brown picked up his second win in the series in game 7 while Critobal Torriente went 4 for 5 on the day with a double and 4 RBI. They now move on to face the '44 Cards.
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Reds Larry Kopf Ninth Inning Heroics!
The next series to end was the '19 Reds, down 3-2 in the bottom of the ninth inning of game seven to the '38 Homestead Grays. Edd Roush started things off with a single scoring Rariden to tie the score then Larry Kopf singled in Cueto for the victory. Hienie Groh led the Reds batting .480 and collected 8 RBI and team mate Edd Roush hit .429. Slim Salle won his second game of the series for the Reds in game 7. Josh Gibson led the Grays at the plate with two homers and 7 RBI while batting .357, lead off hitter Vic Harris was second hitting .345.
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Yankees Outlast Redsox To Take Series!
The '32 Yankees were next when they defeated the '49 Red Sox in seven games. Down three games to two they came back and took the final two contests at Fenway 7-4 and 7-0. Johnny Allen threw a shuout on 4 hits in game seven. They now will face the '19 Reds in the next round. Red Sox Ted Williams was his usual hitting .385 on the series.
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Eagles Bob Harvey 2 Homers In Game Six!
The last series to finish was the '47 Newark Eagles who faced the '24 Monarchs. The Eagles came back from being down 3 games to 1 winning the last three contests 7-5, 9-8 and 8-3. Bob Harvey was 4-4 in game 6 with 2 homers and 3 RBI. Starter Max Manning won his second game in the contest, he also contributed with a 3 run home run to start their scoring in the game. The Eagles will now will move on to face the '42 Cards. The Monarchs Hurley McNair batted .462 in the series.
Round Two - The Quarter Finals
We are now down to eight clubs, two Yankees teams 1932 and 1927, two Cardinal teams 1942 and 1944. Two negro league teams, 1946 Newark Eagles and the 1920 Chicago American Giants. The final two clubs are the 1931 Athletics and the 1919 Cincinnati Reds.
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1932 Yankees Sweep 1919 Reds!
In round two the first series to finish was the '32 Yankees sweep of the '19 Reds. Relief pitcher Ernie Wells picked up his 2nd win in game 4. The contest went 10 innings when Lou Gehrig sent a Slim Salle offering into the right field stands for the series walk off homer. After two series Cincinnati's Edd Roush batted .396.
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Bronx Bombers Eliminate Athletics In Five!
The next series to finish was another Yankee contest as the '27 Yanks defeated the '29 Athletics taking the last three contest 7-4, 12-4 and 3-2. The final game went down to the wire as Johnny Grabowski grounded to first scoring Babe Ruth who walked earlier in the inning for the series win in 10th innings. They will face the '42 Cards in the next round. Jimmy Dykes batted .500 in playoffs with 16 hits and 5 homers for the Athletics.
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Cardinals Outmuscle Eagles Take Series In Six!
Newark took the first contest in St. Louis when they sent 8 men to the plate in the top of the 7th innings scoring 3 runs on 2 hits and 3 walks. Lennie Perason doubled two in to take the lead. Hurler Leon Day held the Cards scoreless in the final three frames for the win. The Cards took the next two games to grab a two games to one series lead. Game four the middle frame in Newark saw the Eagles starter Ruffus Lewis toss a three hit shutout gem. Reliever Warren Peace came on in the ninth to get the save. Cards starter Max Lanier took the loss giving up on one run on five hits. Now the series is tied at two games each. The Cards cranked up the bats scoring 8 runs in games five and six to take the series. Starter Harry Gumbert collected his third win in the playoffs in game six. They will head to New York to face the '27 Yankees.
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Tom Johnson And Chicago Hold Off Cardinals!
The last series to finish in round two was a seven game battle between the 10th ranked '20 American Giants and the top seeded '44 Cards. Game seven in St. Louis started off with the Chicago club scoring three runs in the first three frames. The Cards bounced back to make it 3-2 on two solo homers by Marty Marion and Mort Cooper but Tom Johnson went the distance for the Chicago holding the Cards to 2 runs on five hits. They now move on to face the '32 Yankees in the next round.
Round Three Semi-Finals
There is only four clubs left the '42 Cardinals travel to New York to face the '27 Yankees and the '32 Yankees head to Chicago to face the '20 American Giants. According to the ELO rankings the three MLB clubs are ranked 2nd, 4th and 3rd respectively. Let's stop to think about the final four clubs.
Everyone knows about the '27 Yankees, Ruth, Gehrig, Meusel, Combs, "Murder's Row". They also had a decent pitching staff
with Hoyt, Pennock,
Moore and Shocker all with over 18 wins.
The '42 Cardinals should be familar to most baseball fans, Stan "The Man" Musial, Enos Slaughter, short stop Mary Marion and catcher Walker Cooper at the plate.
Mort Cooper and Johnny Bealzley on the hill with over twenty wins each.
The '32 Yankees with hurlers Lefty Gomez, Red Ruffing, Johnny Allen and Geroge Pipgras, 24, 18, 17, 16 wins respectively. Their lineup may not have been "Murder's Row" but with Gehrig in his prime, and Ruth at 37 hitting 41 homers batting .341. They still have Lazzeri and Combs with the addition of Bill Dickey behind the plate. They also have Ben Champan leading off stealing 38 bases.
Then there's the '20 Chicago American Giants from the first organized negro national league. They are skippered by Andrew "Rube" Foster who led them to a 43-17 record.
They came in 10th in our replay, so they are for real. They have the arms with Tom Johnson, Dave Brown and Tom Williams all with below 2.00 eras. They also have a
decent lineup led by Cuban star Cristobal Torriente who hit .365 on the season with 21 homers, Bingo DeMoss, and Dave Malarcher. They are in the final four because they
defeated the '44 Cardinals in the last round. Note the '44 Cardinals were ranked 5th in the ELO rankings.
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1927 Yankees Advance To Championship Series!
The first semifinal series to be completed was the '27 Yankees taking down the '42 Cardinals in five games. The final contest went 10 innings. Johnny Bealzley come on in relief and gave up a double to Meusel, then he walked Ruth, Gehrig then bunted Meusel over to third, (wait a minute Lou Gehrig one of the most prolifical sluggers of all time bunted!). Ray Collins then flied out to very deep right, sacrificing Meusel to score for the go ahead run. The Cards did mount a comeback in the bottom of the inning when Johnny Hopp tripled to left with one out. Musial grounded to first, Slaughter walked but Marty Marion flied out to right center to end the game.
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American Giants Rout Yankees In Seventh Game!
The other series went the full seven games. Chicago won the first two at home and even took the first game at New York to go up three games to none. The Yankees saved themselves from the sweep in the bottom of the 10th inning in game four. They scored with 3 singles when Earle Combs grounded out to short scoring Cosetti for the win. The The Yankees then won the next two contests forcing a game seven in Chicago. The final game was all Chicago though with Tom Johnson holding the Yankees to 1 run on five hits while Cristobal Torriente went 2 for 2 with a triple and 2 RBI in a 6-1 rout. They now will be facing the '27 Yankees in the championship series.
The Championship Series
The stage is set with the '27 New York Yankees, possibly the best team ever to host the '20 Chicago American Giants, one of the negro league's finest clubs.
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Torriente Knocks Game Winning Run In the 11th!
Game one is another extra inning affair, with the scored tied at three after 11 innings. The American Giants sent 8 men to the plate scoring two runs on 2 hits, 3 walks and an error. Cristobal Torriente singled scoring 2 to take the lead. In the bottom frame the Yankees batted against Marshall, who was in relief of Wickware who pitched 11 innings. Bob Meusel led off with a double, Ruth then was walked, Gehrig lined a single sending Meusel to third, and Ruth to second. Lazzeri grounded to short for a 6-4-3 double play as Meusel scored. Keonig was next and he flied out deep down the right field line for the last out.
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Babe Belts Walk Off Homer!
Game two in New York and we have another extra inning contest on our hands. This time with the game tied at 5 in the bottom the 10th inning Babe Ruth belted a two run homer, his second of the game for the walk off win.
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Yankees Out Muscle American Giants In Game Three!
With the series tied we head to Chicago were we have a slugfest. There where six homers were hit and 21 runs were scored. When the dust settled the Yankees out muscled the American Giants 13-8. Babe Ruth hit his 9th dinger of the playoffs and George Dixon had two homers for the home team.
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Pitching Takes Over In Games Four And Five!
Game four was a masterful pitching performance by Chicago's Dave Brown who shut out the Yanks on 2 hits for his 5th win of the playoffs with no losses. The home team scored 4 runs on 8 hits to tie the series once again. Game five was another low scoring affair with Wait Hoyt dueling it out with Jack Marshall. Dave Malarcher doubled in the seventh scoring two for the game winning RBI for a two to one victory.
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Ruth Powers Series To Seventh Game!
The series now goes back to New York with the American Giants up 3 games to 2. Game six in the big apple is another close contest, with the the Giants up 4-0 in the bottom of the six when Babe Ruth belts his 10 homer of the playoffs with two on. He then follows that up with another in the bottom of the seventh for the game winner! The Series tied again!
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Chicago American Giants Champions!
Game seven it's Tom Johnson for Chicago and Dutch Ruether for the home town Yankees. Chicago comes out swing scoring 3 in the first sending 7 men to the plate. Bingo DeMoss tripled scoring 2 and another run scored on Torriente's ground out. The Yankees Pat Collins hit a solo shot in the bottom of the second to make it 3-1 Chicago. But the American Giants came right back in the top of the third scoring another 3 runs with George Dixon's triple, Torriente's single and a Malarcher's sac fly. The score is now 6-1 Chicago. The Yankees could only manage another two runs while the American Giants added another in the top of the ninth to take the contest 7-3!